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US producer price indexes for August showed a marked jump in local trucking costs, likely due to increased demand for service between ports, warehouses, and distribution and fulfillment centers as e-commerce demand spurred imports.

Contract truck rates are rising because shippers are struggling to find available capacity and asking carriers what it will take to get their freight moving.

US for-hire trucking companies are rehiring truck drivers at a rate slower than the acceleration of freight demand, contributing to rising pressure on truck rates and US shippers.

The flood of imports to Los Angeles and Long Beach this summer is squeezing truckload and LTL capacity on inland truck routes, more than doubling spot rates to Chicago, as intermodal capacity and e-commerce deadlines remain tight.

Less-than-truckload shipments and tonnage at Saia in August were about where they were a year ago, when the carrier already was growing faster than its LTL competitors. That underscores broader LTL growth.

Third-party logistics provider Transplace looks to expand its shipper customer base through the acquisition of LeanCor, a supply-chain company focused on lean manufacturing.

A proposed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration pilot project would let truck drivers stop the hours of service clock for up to three hours and then resume driving, giving them more control over their schedules, but a longer day.

Shippers need quicker access to carrier, rate information as lanes, customers, and pricing shift under COVID-19, C.H. Robinson says.

Truckload freight volumes are still increasing overall, but not at the frenetic pace of July, supply chain visibility provider FourKites says. That's a sign supply chains are "rebalancing," though spot pricing remains elevated.

After selling its last remaining non-LTL subsidiaries, Roadrunner Transportation plans to shorten transit times on more lanes, improve service, and win over LTL shippers and drivers.

Only eight of the JOC Top 40 Container Carriers by US Imports managed to increase volumes in the first five months of the year, none of which belong to one of the three major vessel-sharing alliances.

Asian gateways continued to increase their dominant share of the global port market in 2019, handling nearly 80 percent of the total throughput of the top 50 container ports worldwide.

With a new integrated distribution center in Massachusetts and another under construction in Pennsylvania, northeastern regional LTL carrier A. Duie Pyle is resuming expansion plans interrupted by COVID-19.

With volume returning, less-than-truckload operators are putting more pressure on shippers to raise rates.

Companies able to field large numbers of trucks are no longer cutting back, but with high demand, additional capacity will come at a price to shippers.

Supply chain disruption and the spread of COVID-19 may have limited carrier ability to add drivers and other employees last month, despite heightened demand.

Intermodal volume, rates, and savings have been on a rollercoaster this year, surging this summer to levels higher than a year ago after steep declines this spring during the height of the pandemic.

The disruption and dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic puts a premium on shipper visibility into LTL networks via digitization, as well as “touchless” pickups and deliveries.

The less-than-truckload (LTL) industry is catching the wave of digitization transforming supply chains, as e-commerce heightens shipper demand for improved service and visibility.

Amid reports of tightening LTL capacity, ODFL, ArcBest’s ABF Freight, and XPO look to put more distance between their businesses and April’s steep decline in volume.

The COVID-19 pandemic, hopping from one hotspot to another, is scattering pieces of the supply chain capacity puzzle, leading to “dislocation,” J.B. Hunt’s Shelley Simpson says.

The spin-off of its third-party logistics business allows Roadrunner Transportation Systems to concentrate on rebuilding and expanding its less-than-truckload business.

More door-to-door, less-than-truckload freight will add revenue and freight density to Forward Air’s airport-to-airport lanes and create new final-mile opportunities, the company’s CEO says.

Roadrunner Freight is adding new LTL terminals on two coasts and in Chicago, tightening its network as it wins more e-commerce freight and expands in a recession.

A bipartisan congressional commission questioned a $700 million US loan to YRC Worldwide, but its ability to scuttle the loan is questionable.

Despite an unexpected uptick in intermodal volume to close the second quarter, J.B. Hunt Transport Services says third-quarter consumer demand remains unpredictable due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The continuing surge in COVID-19 cases acts as an anchor on the economic recovery and could turn a U-shaped recovery into a W-shaped one, IHS Markit’s chief economist warns.

Moroun made the trucking real estate deal of the century when he acquired the Ambassador Bridge in 1979 and shaped the flow of goods between the US and Canada for decades.

By launching a door-to-door, less-than-truckload business in Savannah, Forward Air is adding more freight and building density in its airport-to-airport network.

US Payroll Protection Program loans, once forgiven, will give small trucking outfits a chance to invest in much-needed technology, a tax and accounting advisory firm says.

London-based digital cargo insurer Loadsure partners with Chicago-based Transship to more fully automate refrigerated containerized exports.

A large chunk of the US trucking sector is riding on Payroll Protection Program loans, which likely averted a capacity crunch in June and may still be shielding shippers this fall.

Shippers are rethinking both long-term and short-term truckload contracting and pricing strategies as freight levels rise from spring’s recessionary lows.

Shippers looking to cut costs should examine how much digital integration they have with their less-than-truckload (LTL) partners and whether their transportation and dock operations are as efficient as possible, panelists told JOC Uncharted.

The US government’s $700 million loan to YRC Worldwide guarantees LTL stability in an uncertain economy.

The US CARES Act loan to YRC Worldwide keeps US military LTL shipments moving, and gives the US taxpayer a nearly 30 percent share in the company.

Bankrupt Comcar sells its dry-van and refrigerated trucking subsidiary to Canada’s largest transportation company, which is expanding its presence in the United States.

Shippers split between those growing during recession and those struggling need to focus on long-term supply-chain improvements to reduce costs, rather than short-term rate cuts.

The pandemic-inspired shift to online shopping will have lasting effects on shippers’ transportation choices, according to the CSCMP State of Logistics Report.

Payroll Protection Program loans could keep struggling small trucking companies in business, and prevent a truck capacity crunch shippers fear — if enough carriers apply for them.